The present invention relates to a control for vehicle accessories and particularly an over-center spring control for holding a panel or grab handle in first or second positions.
Frequently, vehicle panels, such as doors, include latches for holding them in an open position and a separate latch for holding them in a closed position. Vehicle grab handles, on the other hand, are typically spring-biased in a stored or retracted position. One proposal for a vehicle grab handle integrally includes coat hooks as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,921. With such a grab handle design, integral clothes hooks are provided to allow the grab handle to perform multiple functions, namely, the normal grab handle use but in addition it can be used for hanging articles. One difficulty with the use of such a grab handle which is biased in a normally retracted position is that it is somewhat difficult to hang articles thereon since the grab handle is not visible from the exterior of the vehicle when an individual standing outside of the vehicle is attempting to hang clothing on the hooks associated with the handle.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a grab handle with integrated coat hooks which can be deployed from a stored to a use position and remain in the deployed use position such that it is readily visible to the user, who then can easily hang articles on the coat hooks. With other vehicle accessories, such as door panels, storage compartments and the like, it would also be desirable to have a door which does not require multiple latches or camming structure for holding the doors in open and closed positions, respectively.
The over-center spring control of the present invention satisfies these needs by providing an arcuate shaped spring which is coupled between a fixed vehicle member and a movable vehicle member with a pivot connection between the fixed and movable members interposed between the ends of the spring such that, as the movable vehicle member is moved from a first position, the axis of the pivot connection is located outside of a line intersecting the ends of the spring, thereby holding the movable member in a first position. When the movable member is moved to a second position, the pivot connection lies between a line connecting the end points of the spring and the spring, such that the spring provides a bias force which tends to hold the movable member in a second position pivotally displaced from the first position.
Thus, by providing an arcuate spring, the ends of the spring move over-center of the pivot connection of the movable member with the fixed member in a closed and an open position, thereby providing a bias force for urging and holding the member in each of the positions. In one embodiment of the invention, such an over-center spring is integrated with a grab handle for holding the grab handle in a deployed position or a retracted position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the grab handle integrally includes a coat hook for holding objects thereon. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the spring is associated with a vehicle panel and, in a specific embodiment, a storage unit having panels which are moved between flat, substantially flush positions to vertically extended use positions. A spring is associated with the movable panels in relationship to the pivot connection of the panels to a floor of the unit to provide held-open and held-closed positions.
In any embodiment of the invention, the spring may be associated and aligned with the pivot connection along the longitudinal axis of the spring, or, in other embodiments, the hinges can be positioned in laterally spaced relationship to the spring connection so long as a line intersecting the ends of the arcuate spring to the fixed and movable members move from one side of the pivot axis of the movable element to the other side of the pivot axis of the movable element for holding the movable element in first and second spring biased positions. Such construction provides a greatly reduced cost of construction by reducing the number of parts. It also provides a reliable operating system in view of the elimination of costly elements which may be prone to failure, and a control system which allows variability in the bias force provided depending on the spring size provided. Thus, the control may be used with grab handles, relatively small accessory doors or panels, or with relatively large cargo-holding compartment panels.